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Thursday, February 17, 2011

The trip to New Orleans was absolutely fantastic, and I managed all of the plane rides with only one minor incident (but what's a little hyperventilating in the grand scheme of life, right?).

The city was beautiful, vibrant, warm (no jacket needed), and full of life. We experienced vegetarian versions of all the classic "Nawlins" foods: Po' Boy Sandwiches, jambalaya, red beans and rice, a Muffeleta, Pecan Pralines, and (my personal favorite) beignets.

I discovered that beignets are the must-have breakfast food when you're visiting New Orleans--they're supposedly the French version of a donut. Think: a small square of fried dough (hello, funnel cake!), covered in powdered sugar.

If you pay the city a visit definitely hit up Cafe Dumonde for the classic diner atmosphere and some perfect beignets.

Since there's always that readjustment phase when you get back from a trip (you mean I have to do laundry again?), I thought I'd ease us back into home life with a breakfast reminiscent of those New Orleans beignets: Donut Muffins.

Adam devoured these babies so fast I almost didn't catch a picture. Since the weekend is coming up, I recommend you make them for Sunday morning breakfast. It just might be your new favorite morning treat.

With that being said, I'm off to do laundry. And un-pack. And get back to the real world.

The original recipes calls for min-muffins, so if you're in the market for a bite-sized treat, proceed to the link above. If you're like me though, and you've got a hankerin' for a big, honkin' donut-tasting muffin, go with the full-sized muffies.

Muffin Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (or real butter), melted

3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

Topping Ingredients:

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (or real butter), melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray (or use muffin liners if you have them).

2) In a mixing bowl combine the melted butter and sugar (from the muffin part of the ingredient list!). Stir in the nutmeg, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Gently stir in baking powder and flour.

3) Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly.

4) In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar from the topping ingredient list. Dip each muffin in the melted butter (from the "topping" ingredient list), and then in the cinnamon sugar. I dipped in the sugar multiple times, for the multiple the goodness :)

Welcome back! I've only been to New Orleans once, but it was for an audition, so I didn't get to see (or eat) much. Donut muffins are awesome! I made the ones Pioneer Woman posted awhile ago and proceeded to eat them all...oops. It was a very similar recipe to this!

Kylie -- Glad you liked the crazy sexy diet book! It's so so so nice to see a "diet" book that I feel comfortable recommending. It totally resonated with me and how I've experienced cleansing. I'm actually going on a mini-cleanse, starting tomorrow, sort of out of the blue. I'll be the green smoothie queen!Natural health has an article on her this month outlining the diet, too.

A family member recently got me this totally Betty Draper cookbook from Louisiana circa 1955, and I really need to try some of the recipes and see if there's any reasonable way to health-ify them. Of course, some food is simply not meant to be healthifed :).

Welcome!

"A Hungry Spoon" is dedicated to all those who seek a healthy balance in their daily lives. I love sharing my experiences with creative cooking, healthy living, and (of course!) the need for daily indulgence in the sweeter things in life.